Marketing Management Class Discussion wk4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marketing Management Class Discussion wk4 - Essay Example most scholars use 1946 and 1964 as the generation’s cutoff (Kouzes & Posner, 2006). Also known as the 13th Generation, these followed the baby boomers and they were born somewhere between 1964 and 1980. They grew up in and connected to the pop culture which was famous in ‘80s and ‘90s. The terminology has found use in marketing, social sciences and demography. Also known as the Millennials, the Echo Boomers or lightly as Generation Why, they are a cohort born somewhere between 1984 and 1994 (Kouzes & Posner, 2006). They are actually children of Baby Boomer and they were raised with many world-changing events happening all around them, including the rise of internet and mass communication. It is renowned as the battleground for culture wars with increasing disagreement between progressive and conservative perspectives. This is commonly known as Generation Z. this is the generation living in First World or Western culture following Generation Y. there is usually a debate on the cutoff for birth year of this generation, with 1990-2001 range. This generation has been given several other names such as â€Å"Homeland Generation† and even â€Å"Google Generation†. As a rule of thumb, every generation believes that their generation was the best. This is because change is not always well embraced and with the constantly and swift generational changes, every generation fells threatened and that is why they believe their generation was the best. However, taking a closer look, one can note that generations do not have a significant difference. When our parents were young, they were free, and had babies, and they went and did their shopping at the cheap store. When we get children, we are free, and we want to shop at the cheap store. Millennials were at some point young, and when they got kids, they went shopping at the cheap store. From this trend, it is clear to see that all generations are somewhat the same and all that everyone tries to do is to get

SAUDIZATION AND THE SAUDI ARABIAN KINGDOM DEVELOPMENT Essay

SAUDIZATION AND THE SAUDI ARABIAN KINGDOM DEVELOPMENT - Essay Example Saudization was an initiative from Saudi Government to encourage the participation and employment of Saudi Nationals in the private sector of the country. This was started during 2006 which were started in order to ensure that local Saudis get jobs in private sector. Government made the condition that if private sector companies do not hire the locals, they will fail to get the government contracts. Initially government set the level of 75% wherein 75% of the employees will be locals however, in actuality, the figures are relatively low. Human resource development (HRD), according to Harbisson and Myers (1964, cited in Abdulai, 2000), is the process of increasing the knowledge, skills and the capacities of all people in society. Therefore, when there is an increase in the level of skills possessed by individuals, an economy will invariably benefit and develop faster. In case of Saudization, this is more critical because it requires a completely new and strategic approach towards HRM in order to ensure that the locals are engaged and employed by the local firms in order to upgrade their skills and reduce the dependence of country on foreign workers. This essay will discuss as to how the process of Saudization can help to create jobs and support the national economy of Saudi Arabia, a country in the Middle East. Also, the issue and its relationship to the development of the economy will be discussed, as well as challenges that may be faced. Recommendations will therefore be made based on the research findings. Saudi Arabia and its Economy The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a centrally planned economy. It’s an oil-based economy with steady government control over major economic activities. The country owns 25% of the world’s confirmed petroleum reserves and ranks as the world’s largest petroleum exporter (OPEC, 2009). The petroleum sector of the Saudi economy accounts for roughly 75% of budget revenues, 45% of the gross domestic product (GDP), an d 90% of export earnings. Approximately 4 million foreign workers play an important role in the oil and service sectors, contributing to the Saudi economy (Gianos & Lusignan, 2003). In the earlier years, discussions were focused on the extent to which Saudi Arabia is prepared to increase market admittance for foreign goods and services and the length of time to become fully compliant with World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations. In April 2000, therefore, the government established the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority to encourage foreign direct investment in Saudi Arabia, and as of November 2005, Saudi Arabia was formally permitted to join the WTO (Al-Asmari, 2008). The Saudi Arabian economy is flooded with family businesses which constitute the backbone of the economy. According to Davis et al. (1997) the family organisations constitute 90% of the trading activities in the Gulf region and 95% of the total organizations in the country. This percentage is relatively high because in other regions of the world, the percentage is between 65% and 80% (Davis et al., 1997). Also, according to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) (2006), the overall number of such family organizations is estimated to have reached